


A Railway Wedding

by bossxtweed



Series: A Study in Time Lord Parenting [2]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Book: The Missy Chronicles, someone gets crushed by a train
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:21:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24796882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bossxtweed/pseuds/bossxtweed
Summary: Scene rewrite fromDismemberment,a short story by James Goss that features inThe Missy Chronicles.I am not affiliated with James Goss or the BBC; this is merely a rewrite featuring my original character.Part ofA Study In Time Lord Parenting,this falls shortly after the first work in the series (as it features Missy before she claimed that title as her own).
Relationships: Missy & Genevieve
Series: A Study in Time Lord Parenting [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1776127
Kudos: 6





	A Railway Wedding

Bobo Braithwaite, train magnate, womanizer, and one of the few wealthy elite allowed to claim a place at the Scoundrels Club, the very same group which once had allowed the _Master_ to sit in their various forms -- until a _woman_ sat in his place, demanding the same treatment as her predecessors. 

Bobo Braithwaite wakes to find himself tied to train tracks in the middle of nowhere, underneath a cloud-filled blue sky, with tall trees reaching far above them and grass fields on either side, and he thinks it quite serene, and _surely_ his being tied down is all a part of some trick? An ad for the railways, perhaps? Or a _stag do…_

“Dada?” it’s the voice of a child, and Bobo looks down to see a toddler crawling around on his abdomen. “Dada sleep?”

“What?!” he cries, and his mind whirs, trying to figure out _which_ one of his women could have kept a child secret from him. 

A woman, _infuriatingly_ familiar, dressed in purple and looking like she’d stepped right out of a period piece, crouches down beside him and slaps his cheek with one hand. “You’re _awake!”_ she enthusiastically claps her hands together. “Good! I was beginning to worry that you would sleep _right through_ the ceremony!”

The little girl pulls at the rope, puts part of it in her mouth, then pulls back, her face distorted in disgust. “Eck,” she says.

“Come now, love,” the woman pulls the little girl into her arms and presses a kiss to her wild curls. “Ropes are for _tying people down_ and **_not_ ** for eating --- though there _are_ certain mat--” she turns her head as someone clears their throat and a flush creeps over her cheeks.

“I believe we have some _business_ to take care of?” Bobo turns towards the speaker, and to his surprise, there stands a _vicar_ in his priestly garments. “And you _really_ shouldn’t let your daughter climb about on the tracks---it’s _dangerous.”_

The glare she gives the reverend sends chills down Bobo’s spine.

“Are you _questioning_ my parenting style, Reverend? And on my **_wedding day?!”_ **

“Mama?” the child asks. She tries to say “wedding” but can’t quite grasp the syllables, and the woman sighs.

“Hang on--” Bobo starts. “ _Who’s_ getting married here?”

Smiling, the woman says, “why, you and I, my love! We were _going_ to have **_cake_ ** during the reception, but I’m rather afraid Geni and I ate it already… my dear girl is _hopped up_ on sugar, which **_should_ **(hopefully) mean that she’ll sleep well tonight!”

She lays down in the grass beside him, letting Genevieve crawl over him, and she leans in confidentially, saying, “you’ve been _naughty,_ haven’t you? I've **_seen_ **your books, you know. Did you never think that all those cost-cutting measures would come back to you?”

He opens his mouth to speak but stops as the child places one hand on his face. “Scratchy,” she says, likely referring to his beard. “Scratchy scratchy…”

The woman sits upright, moves her arms like a train, and says, “chuff chuff chuff!”

Her daughter laughs.

“You _like that,_ don’t you? Well, the choo-choo will be here soon enough! Though I _have_ to tell you,” she leans down before saying, “it’s a **_shame,_ ** really! I think my Geni _likes_ you, but she’s _far too young_ to retain any of this…”

The tracks begin to vibrate and Bobo snaps, “enough of that! Now, I’m not sure _what’s_ going on here, but you better untie me this _instant_ or else I’ll--”

“Shh now, love. I’ll let you go if you just say _two little words…”_

Incredulously he stares at her, saying, “ _what_ words?”

She smiles wickedly. _“I do.”_

 _I’ll humor her,_ he thinks; _there’s a train coming and it’s likely this is all a publicity stunt, advertising the new high speed lines…_

He smiles nervously before saying, “I _do.”_

She jumps up, claps excitedly, and pulls the reverend over. _“This,”_ she says, “is Reverend St. John Calquhoun, and he’ll be officiating our _tiny_ wedding--family only, though I’m afraid _your side_ wasn’t able to make it.”

“Oh?” Bobo asks. “That’s good -- I’d _hate_ to have an ex spoil this occasion!” 

“Course not,” she states flatly. “Reverend,” she turns towards him, “I want to get married and I want to do it _now,_ before my little girl crashes from the sugar and her new dad---”

The priest clears his throat, opens his prayer book, and nervously says, “I _was_ the pastor at St. Mede’s---it was such a _lovely_ little place…”

“I’ll have to visit,” Bobo responds, not sure _how_ that information is relevant.

“You already are,” the priest responds, before explaining that his church used to stand in his very spot until Bobo’s company had it destroyed in favor of erecting the new rail line.

“He’s _very_ cross, you know,” the woman tells him. “Tearing down such an _important_ part of one’s community tends to put you in their bad books… naughty, naughty,” she chides. 

“I’m sorry--” Bobo starts, but she presses a finger to his lips, silencing him.

“No time for that! Reverend, **_get. me. married!”_ **

To his credit, the priest reads through the ceremony with cool indifference, even though the groom is tied to the railroad tracks and the bride can **_not_ **stand still for more than a moment and her daughter keeps pulling at the ropes while babbling about something in a language neither of the humans can place. After the couple says “I do,” the new Mrs. Braithwaite scoops her daughter into her arms and dances about, singing in that same strange language. 

“Hey!” Bobo cuts in. “You _promised_ to untie me!”

Mrs. Braithwaite gasps and turns towards him. “Did I? _Whoopsie._ Y’know, this is all _your_ fault,” she motions towards him. “High speed trains need straight paths to travel, but _you_ razed a church to build this line, and the _kink_ in the tracks means they **_won’t_ **see you lying there… tut, tut.”

“But you _promised,”_ he intones. “Please, Mrs. B--”

Fire burns in her eyes as she says, “ah, Bobo, dear; I already have _everything_ I wanted from you, mainly your **_money,_ ** though I _suppose_ this means Genevieve will grow up without her step-father…. no matter!”

The tracks begin to vibrate violently and Bobo starts to cry, only now realizing this _isn’t_ some sort of trick; he is married, again, and with the train coming---

“Oh g-d!” he cries! “Help me!”

Mrs. Braithwaite holds her daughter on one hip and reaches for the reverend, saying, “we should move away now…” she regards him carefully before asking, “will you watch?”

The reverend shudders. “No, I---I couldn’t…”

“Geni, love,” she turns so the girl can see Bobo. “Can you say ‘bye-bye’ to your stepfather?” 

“Bye bye!” the girl exclaims, waving a hand. “Choo choo!”

Mrs. Braithwaite turns away from the tracks and stretches a hand out towards the pastor, asking, “will you _peek?”_

He shudders again. “No, I can’t.” 

Mrs. Braithwaite grins. “Ah. Well, _me?_ I **_love_ **the splatty bits!”

They stop at the top of the hill and she turns round, burying Genevieve’s face against her chest (for the girl _doesn’t_ need to see this,) and she watches as Bobo Braithwaite becomes nothing more than splattered parts.


End file.
